Architecture and formation of transgressive–regressive cycles in marginal marine strata of the John Henry Member,Straight Cliffs Formation,Upper Cretaceous of Southern Utah,USA

Marginal marine deposits of the John Henry Member, Upper Cretaceous Straight Cliffs Formation, were deposited within a moderately high accommodation and high sediment supply setting that facilitated preservation of both transgressive and regressive marginal marine deposits. Complete transgressive–regressive cycles, comprising barrier island lagoonal transgressive deposits interfingered with regressive shoreface facies, are distinguished based on their internal facies architecture and bounding surfaces. Two main types of boundaries occur between the transgressive and regressive portions of each cycle: (i) surfaces that record the maximum regression and onset of transgression (bounding surface A); and (ii) surfaces that place deeper facies on top of shallower facies (bounding surface B). The base of a transgressive facies (bounding surface A) is defined by a process change from wave‐dominated to tide‐dominated facies, or a coaly/shelly interval indicating a shift from a regressive to a transgressive regime. The surface recording such a process change can be erosional or non‐erosive and conformable. A shift to deeper facies occurs at the base of regressive shoreface deposits along both flooding surfaces and wave ravinement surfaces (bounding surface B). These two main bounding surfaces and their subtypes generate three distinct transgressive – regressive cycle architectures: (i) tabular, shoaling‐upward marine parasequences that are bounded by flooding surfaces; (ii) transgressive and regressive unit wedges that thin basinward and landward, respectively; and (iii) tabular, transgressive lagoonal shales with intervening regressive coaly intervals. The preservation of transgressive facies under moderately high accommodation and sediment supply conditions greatly affects stratigraphic architecture of transgressive–regressive cycles. Acknowledging variation in transgressive–regressive cycles, and recognizing transgressive successions that correlate to flooding surfaces basinward, are both critical to achieving an accurate sequence stratigraphic interpretation of high‐frequency cycles.     

Tectonic,sea-level,and climatic controls on Late Paleozoic sedimentation in the western basins of Argentina

Tectonic activity, sea-level changes, and the climate controlled sedimentation in Late Paleozoic basins of western Argentina. The role of each factor is investigated from the geologic record of the Río Blanco and Paganzo basins using three hierarchical orders of stratigraphic bounding surfaces. First-order surfaces correspond to regional unconformities, second-order ones to local unconformities with a lesser regional extent, and third-order surfaces represent locally extended sedimentary truncation. Using this methodology, the Carboniferous–Permian record of the Paganzo and Río Blanco basins may be divided into two megasequences, four sequences, and 12 stratigraphic sections. Megasequences are bounded by regional unconformities that result from tectonic events important enough to cause regional paleogeographic changes. Sequences are limited by minor regional extension surfaces related to local tectonic movements or significant sea-level falls. Finally, stratigraphic sections correspond to extended sedimentary truncations produced by transgressive events or major climatic changes. Sequence I is mainly composed of marine deposits divided into basal infill of the basin (Section 1) and Tournaisian–Visean transgressive deposits (Section 2). Sequence II is bounded by a sharp erosional surface and begins with coarse conglomerates (Section 3), followed by fluvial and shallow marine sedimentary rocks (Section 4) that pass upward into shales and diamictites (Section 5). The base of Sequence III is marked by an extended unconformity covered by Early Pennsylvanian glacial sedimentary rocks (Section 6) that represent the most important glacial event along the western margin of Gondwana. Postglacial deposits (Section 7) occur in the two basins and comprise both glaciolacustrine (eastern region) and transgressive marine (central and western regions) deposits. By the Moscovian–Kasimovian, fluvial sandstones and conglomerates were deposited in most of the Paganzo Basin (Section 8), while localized volcanic activity took place in the Río Blanco Basin. Near the end of the Carboniferous, an important transgression is recorded in the major part of the Río Blanco Basin (Section 9), reaching the westernmost portion area of the Paganzo Basin. Finally, Sequence IV shows important differences between the Paganzo and Río Blanco basins; fluvial red beds (Section 10), eolian sandstones (Section 11), and low-energy fluvial deposits (Section 12) prevailed in the Paganzo Basin whereas volcaniclastic sedimentation and volcanism dominated in the Río Blanco Basin. Thus, tectonic events, sea-level changes and climate exerted a strong and complex control on the evolution of the Río Blanco and Paganzo basins. The interaction of these allocyclic controls produced not only characteristic facies association patterns but also different kinds of stratigraphic bounding surfaces.     

Marine transgression and regression in Miocene sequences of northern Pegu (Bago) Yoma,Central Myanmar

Neogene strata of the northern part of the Pegu (Bago) Yoma Range, Central Myanmar, contain a series of shallow marine clastic sediments with stratigraphic ages ranging from the Early to Late Miocene. The studied succession (around 750 m thick) is composed of three major stratigraphic units deposited during a major regression and four major transgressive cycles in the Early to Late Miocene. The transgressive deposits consist of elongate sand-bars and broad sand-sheets that pass headward into mixed-flats of tidal environments. Marine flooding in transgressive deposits is associated with coquina beds and allochthonous coral-bearing sandy limestone bands. Major marine regressions are associated with lowstand progradation of thick estuary point-bars passing up into upper sand-flat sand bodies encased within the tidal flat sequences and lower shoreface deposits with local unconformities. The succession initially formed in a large scale incised-valley system, and was later interrupted by two major marine transgressions in the generally regressive or basinward-stepping stratigraphic sequences. Successive sandbodies were formed during a sea-level lowstand and early stage of the subsequent relative rise of sea level in a tide-dominated estuary system in the eastern part of the Central Myanmar Tertiary Basin during Early to Late Miocene times.     

Tectonic, sea-level, and climatic controls on Late Paleozoic sedimentation in the western basins of Argentina

Tectonic activity, sea-level changes, and the climate controlled sedimentation in Late Paleozoic basins of western Argentina. The role of each factor is investigated from the geologic record of the Río Blanco and Paganzo basins using three hierarchical orders of stratigraphic bounding surfaces. First-order surfaces correspond to regional unconformities, second-order ones to local unconformities with a lesser regional extent, and third-order surfaces represent locally extended sedimentary truncation. Using this methodology, the Carboniferous–Permian record of the Paganzo and Río Blanco basins may be divided into two megasequences, four sequences, and 12 stratigraphic sections. Megasequences are bounded by regional unconformities that result from tectonic events important enough to cause regional paleogeographic changes. Sequences are limited by minor regional extension surfaces related to local tectonic movements or significant sea-level falls. Finally, stratigraphic sections correspond to extended sedimentary truncations produced by transgressive events or major climatic changes. Sequence I is mainly composed of marine deposits divided into basal infill of the basin (Section 1) and Tournaisian–Visean transgressive deposits (Section 2). Sequence II is bounded by a sharp erosional surface and begins with coarse conglomerates (Section 3), followed by fluvial and shallow marine sedimentary rocks (Section 4) that pass upward into shales and diamictites (Section 5). The base of Sequence III is marked by an extended unconformity covered by Early Pennsylvanian glacial sedimentary rocks (Section 6) that represent the most important glacial event along the western margin of Gondwana. Postglacial deposits (Section 7) occur in the two basins and comprise both glaciolacustrine (eastern region) and transgressive marine (central and western regions) deposits. By the Moscovian–Kasimovian, fluvial sandstones and conglomerates were deposited in most of the Paganzo Basin (Section 8), while localized volcanic activity took place in the Río Blanco Basin. Near the end of the Carboniferous, an important transgression is recorded in the major part of the Río Blanco Basin (Section 9), reaching the westernmost portion area of the Paganzo Basin. Finally, Sequence IV shows important differences between the Paganzo and Río Blanco basins; fluvial red beds (Section 10), eolian sandstones (Section 11), and low-energy fluvial deposits (Section 12) prevailed in the Paganzo Basin whereas volcaniclastic sedimentation and volcanism dominated in the Río Blanco Basin. Thus, tectonic events, sea-level changes and climate exerted a strong and complex control on the evolution of the Río Blanco and Paganzo basins. The interaction of these allocyclic controls produced not only characteristic facies association patterns but also different kinds of stratigraphic bounding surfaces.     

Tectonic controls on sequence stacking pattern and along-strike architecture in the Pleistocene Mejillones Formation,northern Chile: Implications for sequence stratigraphic models

In the Mejillones Formation, a shallow-marine Pleistocene succession of northern Chile, the cyclic stratigraphic record is the result of the complex interaction of regional uplift, glacio-eustasy, local tectonics, sediment supply, and sedimentary processes. Stratal geometries, characteristics of sedimentary facies, and nature of sequence-bounding unconformities have been investigated to evaluate the influence of: (i) intrabasinal, short-term normal faulting on both along-strike variations in sequence architecture and genetic complexity of key stratal surfaces; and (ii) long-term regional uplift on sequence stacking pattern. The stratigraphic succession, dissected by small-displacement (few meters) normal faults striking obliquely with respect to the palaeo-shoreline trends, displays systematic variations in sequence architecture and the nature of bounding surfaces across them. Indeed, depending on position with respect to the fault plane, two basic types of internal organisation can be recognised in the examined shallow-marine, almost clastic-starved sequence. Within grabens it consists of a siliciclastic-rich transgressive systems tract (TST), which is bounded beneath by a transgressively modified, Glossifungites-demarcated sequence boundary (SB/RS), overlain by a mollusc-bearing falling-stage systems tract (FSST). The erosional downlap surface that separates the TST from the FSST is the regressive surface of marine erosion (RSME). On the footwall crests the combination of marine regressive erosion, during falls in relative sea-level, and uplift has resulted in complete removal of the sediments of the TST from these sites, leading to the formation of a tectonically enhanced basal unconformity composed of the RSME superimposed onto the previous SB/RS (SB/RS/RSME). The prominent lateral change in component units (systems tracts) and nature of bounding surfaces within the studied sequence is directly related to the presence of normal faults and indicates that fault activity had a major impact on the sequence stratigraphic evolution of the Mejillones Formation, enhancing subsidence within the grabens and promoting unconformities in the horsts.Overall, the Mejillones Formation records a long-term sea-level fall driven by the contemporaneous regional uplift, punctuated by repeated, high-frequency eustatic sea-level changes. The effect of this superimposition was that glacio-eustatic sequences were displaced progressively downward and basinward and stacked in a distinct downstepping, tectonically enhanced falling-stage sequence set, which reflects basin-wide loss in accommodation space. The sequence set is underlain by a composite RSME that becomes progressively younger basinward and is made up by the lateral and down-dip connection of a series of lower-rank sequence boundaries including hanging-wall SB/RSs and footwall SB/RS/RSMEs of successive sequences.     

Coeval deposition of transgressive and normal regressive stratal packages in a structurally controlled area of the Viking Formation,central Alberta,Canada

Variability in accommodation and sedimentation rates within a basin generates significant deviations in the along-strike stratal stacking patterns of systems tracts. This variability can lead to coeval depositional units that record the juxtaposition of transgressive (retrogradational) and regressive (progradational) stratal stacking patterns. In scenarios where transgressive and regressive units are deposited concurrently, challenges arise when attempting to correlate and place systems tracts into a sequence stratigraphic framework. In these scenarios, the maximum flooding surface records a high level of diachroneity, with the position of the surface variable throughout the stratigraphic column. In this study, Viking Formation (late Albian) deposits in the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, central Alberta, Canada, preserve significant along-strike variability of palaeoshorelines that developed in response to autogenic processes as well as allogenic controls that were active during deposition. Specifically, structural reactivation of Precambrian basement structures during Viking deposition led to significant variability in depositional environments along the palaeoshoreline. The incremental basement reactivation of the Precambrian Snowbird Tectonic Zone influenced sedimentation patterns and the creation of anomalous zones of accommodation in localized areas of the basin. Across fault boundaries and within the anomalously thick strata, both progradational and retrogradational stacking patterns occur within broadly contemporaneous deposits, complicating the correlation of stratigraphic units. While the concomitant deposition of transgressive and regressive units has been documented in a number of modern marine analogues, the concept is rarely applied to ancient successions. By identifying along-strike variabilities in shoreline geometries and incorporating the autogenic and allogenic controls that were active during deposition, a more accurate sequence stratigraphic framework can be proposed.     

Formation and Tectonic Evolution of the Pattani Basin,Gulf of Thailand

The stratigraphic and structural evolution of the Pattani Basin, the most prolific petroleum basin in Thailand, reflects the extensional tectonic regime of continental Southeast Asia. E-W extension resulting from the northward collision of India with Eurasia since the Early Tertiary resulted in the formation of a series of N-S-trending sedimentary basins, which include the Pattani Basin. The sedimentary succession in the Pattani Basin is divisible into synrift and post-rift sequences. Deposition of the synrift sequence accompanied rifting and extension, with episodic block faulting and rapid subsidence. The synrift sequence comprises three stratigraphic units: (1) Upper Eocene to Lower Oligocene alluvial-fan, braidedriver, and floodplain deposits; (2) Upper Oligocene to Lower Miocene floodplain and channel deposits; and (3) a Lower Miocene regressive package consisting of marine to nonmarine sediments. Post-rift succession comprises: (1) a Lower to Middle Miocene regressive package of shallow marine sediments through floodplain and channel deposits; (2) an upper Lower Miocene transgressive sequence; and (3) an Upper Miocene to Pleistocene transgressive succession. The post-rift phase is characterized by slower subsidence and decreased sediment influx. The present-day shallow-marine condition in the Gulf of Thailand is the continuation of this latest transgressive phase.

The subsidence and thermal history of the Pattani Basin is consistent with a nonuniform lithospheric-stretching model. The amount of extension as well as surface heat flow generally increases from the margin to the basin center. The crustal stretching factor (β) varies from 1.3 at the basin margin to 2.8 in the center. The subcrustal stretching factor (5) ranges from 1.3 at the basin margin to more than 3.0 in the basin center. The stretching of the lithosphere may have extended the basement rocks by as much as 45 to 90 km and has led to passive upwelling of the aesthenosphere, resulting in high heat flow (1.9 to 2.5 Heat Flow Units [HFU]) and high geothermal gradient (45 to 60° C/km). The validity of nonuniform lithospheric stretching as a mechanism for the formation of the Pattani Basin is confirmed by the good agreement between the level of organic maturation modeled on the basis of the predicted heatflow history and measured vitrinite reflectance at various depths measured in some 30 boreholes.     

Allogenic and autogenic controls on facies and stratigraphic architecture of the Lower Jurassic Mashabba Formation,Gebel Al-Maghara,North Sinai,Egypt

The Lower Jurassic Mashabba Formation crops out in the core of the doubly plunging Al-Maghara anticline, North Sinai, Egypt. It represents a marine to terrestrial succession deposited within a rift basin associated with the opening of the Neotethys. Despite being one of the best and the only exposed Lower Jurassic strata in Egypt, its sedimentological and sequence stratigraphic framework has not been addressed yet. The formation is subdivided informally into a lower and upper member with different depositional settings and sequence stratigraphic framework. The sedimentary facies of the lower member include shallow-marine, fluvial, tidal flat and incised valley fill deposits. In contrast, the upper member consists of strata with limited lateral extension including fossiliferous lagoonal limestones alternating with burrowed deltaic sandstones. The lower member contains three incomplete sequences (SQ1-SQ3). The depositional framework shows transgressive middle shoreface to offshore transition deposits sharply overlain by forced regressive upper shoreface sandstones (SQ1), lowstand fluvial to transgressive tidal flat and shallow subtidal sandy limestones (SQ2), and lowstand to transgressive incised valley fills and shallow subtidal sandy limestones (SQ3). In contrast, the upper member consists of eight coarsening-up depositional cycles bounded by marine flooding surfaces. The cycles are classified as carbonate-dominated, siliciclastic-dominated, and mixed siliciclastic-carbonate. The strata record rapid changes in accommodation space. The unpredictable facies stacking pattern, the remarkable rapid facies changes, and chaotic stratigraphic architecture suggest an interplay between allogenic and autogenic processes. Particularly syndepositional tectonic pulses and occasional eustatic sea-level changes controlled the rate and trends of accommodation space, the shoreline morphology, the amount and direction of siliciclastic sediment input and rapid switching and abandonment of delta systems.     

Stratigraphic evolution of the nearshore to fluvial plain of the Upper Cuyo Group,Neuquén,Argentina

The upper portion of the Cuyo Group in the Zapala region, south‐eastern Neuquén Basin (Western Argentina), encompasses marine and transitional deposits (Lajas Formation) overlain by alluvial rocks (Challacó Formation). The Challacó Formation is covered by the Mendoza Group above a second‐order sequence boundary. The present study presents the stratigraphic framework and palaeophysiographic evolution of this Bajocian to Eo‐Calovian interval. The studied succession comprises the following genetic facies associations: (i) offshore and lower shoreface–offshore transition; (ii) lower shoreface; (iii) upper shoreface; iv) intertidal–subtidal; (v) supratidal–intertidal; (vi) braided fluvial to delta plain; (vii) meandering river; and (viii) braided river. The stratigraphic framework embraces four third‐order depositional sequences (C1 to C4) whose boundaries are characterized by the abrupt superposition of proximal over distal facies associations. Sequences C1 to C3 comprise mostly littoral deposits and display well‐defined, small‐scale transgressive–regressive cycles associated with fourth‐order depositional sequences. Such high‐frequency cycles are usually bounded by ravinement surfaces associated with transgressive lags. At last, the depositional sequence C4 delineates an important tectonic reorganization probably associated with an uplift of the Huincul Ridge. This is suggested by an inversion of the transport trend, north‐westward during the deposition of C1 to C3 depositional sequences (Lajas Formation) to a south‐west trend during the deposition of the braided fluvial strata related to the C4 depositional sequence (Challacó Formation).     

The Upper Aptian to Lower Albian syn-rift carbonate succession of the southern Maestrat Basin (Spain): Facies architecture and fault-controlled stratabound dolostones

Syn-rift shallow-marine carbonates of Late Aptian to Early Albian age in the southern Maestrat Basin (E Spain) register the thickest Aptian sedimentary record of the basin, and one of the most complete carbonate successions of this age reported in the northern Tethyan margin. The host limestones (Benassal Formation) are partially replaced by dolostones providing a new case study of fault-controlled hydrothermal dolomitization. The syn-rift sediments filled a graben controlled by normal basement faults. The Benassal Fm was deposited in a carbonate ramp with scarce siliciclastic input. The lithofacies are mainly characterized by the presence of orbitolinid foraminifera, corals and rudist bivalves fauna. The succession is stacked in three transgressive–regressive sequences (T–R) bounded by surfaces with sequence stratigraphic significance. The third sequence, which is reported for the first time in the basin, is formed by fully marine lithofacies of Albian age and represents the marine equivalent to the continental deposits of the Escucha Fm in the rest of the basin.The dolomitization of the host rock is spatially associated with the basement faults, and thus is fault-controlled. The dolostone forms seismic-scale stratabound tabular geobodies that extend several kilometres away from the fault zones, mostly in the hanging wall blocks, and host Mississippi Valley Type (MVT) deposits. The dolostones preferentially replaced middle to inner ramp grain-dominated facies from the third T–R sequences consisting of bioclastic packestones and peloidal grainstones. Field and petrology data indicate that the replacement took place after early calcite cementation and compaction, most likely during the Late Cretaceous post-rift stage of the basin. The dolostone registers the typical hydrothermal paragenesis constituted by the host limestone replacement, dolomite cementation and sulfide MVT mineralization. The Aptian succession studied provides a stratigraphic framework that can be used for oil exploration in age-equivalent rocks, especially in the València Trough, offshore Spain. Moreover, this new case study constitutes a world class outcrop analogue for similar partially stratabound, dolomitized limestone reservoirs worldwide.     

Upper Cretaceous marine‐continental transition (Leonese Area,NW Spain) defined from integrated outcrop and seismic stratigraphy

The Upper Cretaceous succession of the Leonese Area (NW Spain) comprises mixed clastic and carbonate sediments. This succession is divided into two lithostratigraphic units, the Voznuevo Member and the Boñar Formation, which represent fluvial, shoreface, intertidal, subtidal and open‐shelf sedimentary environments. Regional seismic interpretation and sequence stratigraphic analysis have allowed the study of lateral and vertical changes in the sedimentary record and the definition of third‐order levels of stratigraphic cyclicity. On the basis of these data, the succession can be divided into two second‐order depositional sequences (DS‐1 and DS‐2), incorporating three system tracts in a lowstand to transgressive to highstand system tract succession (LST–TST–HST). These sequences are composed of fluvial systems at the base with palaeocurrents that flowed westward and south‐westward. The upper part of DS‐1 (Late Albian–Middle Turonian) shows evidence of intertidal to subtidal and offshore deposits. DS‐2 (Late Turonian–Campanian) comprises intertidal to subtidal, tidal flat, shallow marine and lacustrine deposits and interbedded fluvial deposits. Two regressive–transgressive cycles occurred in the area related to eustatic controls. The evolution of the basin can be explained by base‐level changes and associated shifts in depositional trends of successive retrogradational episodes. By using isobath and isopach maps, the main palaeogeographic features of DS‐1 and DS‐2 were constrained, namely coastline positions, the existence and orientation of corridors through which fluvial networks were channelled and the location of the main depocentres of the basin. Sedimentation on the Upper Cretaceous marine platform was mainly controlled by (i) oscillations of sea level and (ii) the orientation of Mesozoic faults, which induced sedimentation along depocentres. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Regressive and transgressive sequences in a raised Holocene gravelly beach, southwestern Crete

Both a modern and a raised, late Holocene gravelly beach have been studied along the cliffed coast near the village of Chora Sfakion in southwestern Crete, Greece. The Holocene beach shows the record of regional, well-documented relative sea-level changes, in the form of regressive and transgressive sequences. The texture, fabric and depositional architecture of these sequences are described and compared with those of the modern, microtidal beach there. The depositional history of the raised beach is discussed in terms of the sediment transport processes and relative sea-level changes. The regressive sequences of both the modern and the Holocene beach resemble those of the mesotidal beaches in the Sker district of southwest Wales, described by Bluck (1967). The transgressive sequence of the Holocene beach resembles the mesotidal beach sequence near Newton (southwest Wales), recognized by Bluck as another type of progradational (regressive) beach. Therefore, transgressive beach sequences in the stratigraphic record might easily be overlooked or misinterpreted as regressive. The stratigraphic depositional patterns of gravelly beach systems are, apparently, still poorly understood.     

Facies analysis of a Toarcian–Bajocian shallow marine/coastal succession (Bardas Blancas Formation) in northern Neuquén Basin,Mendoza province,Argentina

Strata of the Bardas Blancas Formation (lower Toarcian–lower Bajocian) are exposed in northern Neuquén Basin. Five sections have been studied in this work. Shoreface/delta front to offshore deposits predominate in four of the sections studied exhibiting a high abundance of hummocky cross-stratified, horizontally bedded and massive sandstones, as well as massive and laminated mudstones. Shell beds and trace fossils of the mixed Skolithos-Cruziana ichnofacies appear in sandstone beds, being related with storm event deposition. Gravel deposits are frequent in only one of these sections, with planar cross-stratified, normal graded and massive orthoconglomerates characterizing fan deltas interstratified with shoreface facies. A fifth outcrop exhibiting planar cross-stratified orthoconglomerates, pebbly sandstones with low-angle stratification and laminated mudstones have been interpreted as fluvial channel deposits and overbank facies. The analysis of the vertical distribution of facies and the recognition of stratigraphic surfaces in two sections in Río Potimalal area let recognized four transgressive–regressive sequences. Forced regressive events are recognized in the regressive intervals. Comparison of vertical distribution of facies also shows differences in thickness in the lower interval among the sections studied. This would be related to variations in accommodation space by previous half-graben structures. The succession shows a retrogradational arrangement of facies related with a widespread transgressive period. Lateral variation of facies let recognize the deepening of the basin through the southwest.     

A New Interpretation of the Corallian (Upper Jurassic) Cycles of the Dorset Coast,Southern England

The Corallian Group of the Dorset coast is reinterpreted as representing four regressive–transgressive cycles in contrast to previous interpretations which recognized four asymmetric regressive cycles. Each regressive sequence is separated at its top from each transgressive sequence by a sharp erosional contact. Overall, the regressive, coarsening-up sequences are characterized by relatively low faunal diversity, dominantly vertical burrows, relatively coarse sediments with cross-bedding and swaley cross-stratification, and the diagenesis predominantly influenced by meteoric water. In comparison, the transgressive, fining-up sequences are generally characterized by relatively high faunal diversity, dominantly horizontal burrows, basal lag deposits (1–2m in thickness) overlying a sharp, erosional surface, followed by clay or nodular wackestone and dominantly deep burial diagenesis. The consistence of the four regressive-transgressive cycles with the eustatic sea-level curve suggests that the sedimentary cycles of the Corallian outcrops may have been mainly produced by the eustatic sea-level changes. Tectonic movements may have been important in generating localized unconformity, relatively coarse clastic sediment influxes and rapid lateral facies variations. The recognition of storm- and tidally-related sedimentary features suggests that the Corallian Group of the Dorset coast may have been deposited in a storm- and tidally-influenced shallow epicontinental shelf.     

沉积盆地的层序和沉积充填结构及过程响应

现代层序地层学的理论发展,把沉积过程纳入到地质演化的时空框架中并与地球的多旋回或节律演化结合研究,形成了一套带有革命性的、在等时地层格架中研究沉积作用的新方法,成为了油气资源等沉积矿产预测勘探的重要工具。沉积盆地的沉积充填可划分出与各级沉积旋回相对应的层序地层单元。追踪对比由不整合面或不整合面及其对应的整合面为界的高级别层序地层单元建立的区域性等时地层格架,对盆地构造古地理再造和油气勘探战略性研究至关重要;追踪四、五级等低级别层序地层单元和体系域建立的高精度层序地层格架,可为重点区域或区带的沉积体系和储集体的沉积构成和分布等的解剖提供精细的地层对比基础。依据沉积基准面的变化,从层序内水进到水退的沉积旋回中可划分出正常水退沉积、强制性水退沉积、水进沉积及垂向加积等成因沉积类型。海相或湖相盆地中三级层序地层单元内均可较好地划分出低位、水进、高位及下降体系域。盆地构造作用、气候变化、海、湖平面升降过程对层序发育的控制作用及沉积响应研究,一直是层序地层学或沉积地质分析领域的研究热点。沉积盆地的层序地层序列演化是盆地地球动力学过程的总体响应。层序地层学把盆地古构造、古地理的变迁纳入到统一的地球演化系统中研究,形成了与区域地球演化史或盆地动力学演化相结合的重要研究领域。多旋回盆地或叠合盆地中多期次的构造变革导致了多个区域性不整合面所分隔的多个构造层序的叠加。注重构造—层序地层的结合分析,揭示盆地的层序地层序列与多期盆地构造作用的成因联系,是构造活动盆地或大型叠合盆地沉积地质演化和油气聚集规律研究的关键。盆地构造作用,如前陆盆地多期次的逆冲挠曲沉降和回弹隆起的构造作用、多幕裂陷过程、多期构造反转等与重要不整合及区域性沉积旋回或层序的形成密切相关;而由气候变化引起的海或湖平面变化是控制高频沉积旋回或低级别层序发育的主要因素。在构造活动盆地中,构造坡折带对沉积体系域和沉积相的发育分布具重要控制作用。     

Normal faulting as a control on the stratigraphic development of shallow marine syn-rift sequences: the Nukhul and Lower Rudeis Formations, Hammam Faraun fault block, Suez Rift, Egypt

Tectono-stratigraphic analysis of the East Tanka fault zone (ETFZ), Suez Rift, indicates that the evolution of normal fault segments was an important control on syn-rift depositional patterns and sequence stratigraphy. Sedimentological and stratigraphic analysis of the Nukhul Formation indicates that it was deposited in a narrow (ca 1–2 km), elongate (ca 5 km), fault-bounded, tidally influenced embayment during the low subsidence rift-initiation phase. The Nukhul Formation is composed of transgressive (TST) and highstand (HST) systems tract couplets interpreted as reflecting fault-driven subsidence and the continuous creation of accommodation in the hangingwall to the ETFZ. The overlying Lower Rudeis Formation was deposited during the high subsidence rift-climax phase, and is composed of forced regressive systems tract (FRST) shallow marine sandbodies, and TST to HST offshore mudstones. Activity on the ETFZ led to marked spatial variability in stratal stacking patterns, systems tracts and key stratal surfaces, as footwall uplift, coupled with regressive marine erosion during deposition of FRST sandbodies, led to the removal of intervening TST–HST mudstone-dominated units, and the amalgamation of FRST sandbodies and the stratal surfaces bounding these units in the footwall. This study indicates that the evolution of normal fault segments over relatively short (i.e. <1 km) length-scales has the potential to enhance or suppress a eustatic sea-level signal, leading to marked spatial variations in stratal stacking patterns, systems tracts and key stratal surfaces. Crucially, these variations in sequence stratigraphic evolution may occur within time-equivalent stratal units, thus caution must be exercised when attempting to correlate syn-rift depositional units based solely on stratal stacking patterns. Furthermore, local, tectonically controlled variations in relative sea level can give rise to syn-rift stacking patterns which are counterintuitive in the context of the structural setting and perceived regional subsidence rates.     

The effects of differential subsidence and coastal topography on high-order transgressive-regressive cycles: Pliocene nearshore deposits of the Val d'Orcia Basin, Northern Apennines, Italy

This study focuses on the lowstand and early transgressive systems tracts of a basin-fill sequence of lower Pliocene nearshore deposits in the Val d'Orcia Basin of the Northern Apennines, Italy. The basin at that time was a semi-enclosed marine embayment, and, in the study area, its margin was subject to highly variable subsidence along the depositional strike, attributed to a decrease in tectonic displacement. The nearshore succession in the more rapidly-subsiding segment of the basin is around 20 m thick, comprising three storeys of laterally-stacked Gilbert-type delta lobes overlain by a shoal-water delta, whereas the nearshore succession in the adjacent, more slowly-subsiding segment, is up to 9 m thick. This succession is characterised by alternation of shoreface and offshore deposits, moderately wave-worked and covered by shoal-water deltaic facies.These coeval nearshore successions consist of several transgressive-regressive cyclothems. The development and lateral variation of the cyclothems was controlled by the local subsidence rate and coastal topographic gradient. Some of the cyclothems are considered to be higher-order sequences and others to be parasequences, with the former passing laterally into the latter in the area where the sea-level fall was countered by fast local subsidence. Some of the bounding surfaces are of limited lateral extent, with two parasequences passing laterally into a single one.Coastal topography controlled particularly the thickness of transgressive deposits. In the low-gradient setting of a delta plain, the relative sea-level rises caused major landward shifts of the shoreline and reduced fluvial sediment supply, with the formation of a transgressive lag in sediment-starved conditions. In the high-gradient coastal setting of the non-deltaic zone, the shoreline shift was minimal and had relatively little impact on local sediment supply, which promoted an accretionary transgression.At the end of the lowstand stage, the rate of sediment accumulation in the non-deltaic nearshore zone was lower, allowing the onset of subsequent transgression to be recorded considerably earlier than in the deltaic nearshore zone. This diachroneity suggests that facies criteria alone may not necessarily be a reliable basis for the recognition of systems tract boundaries.     

化石群落与层序地层的耦合关系研究——以塔里木盆地西部中新生代有孔群落与层序地层关系研究为例

本文研究的是大陆边缘海以底栖有孔虫为主的化石群落与层序地层的关系。海平面变化是控制化石群落演替和识别划分层序的主要因素。化石群落在一个完整海水进退诈回中呈机会种群落、平衡种群落、终极种群落演替变化,在化石丰度、多样度、均衡度、成壳类型等方面分异显著,与层序地层的三级层序的海进体系域、凝缩期沉积、高位体系域具有密切的耦合关系。化石群落的替变化是对海洋环境变迁的能动反映。因此,化石群落的研究可以帮助识别和优化层序、沉积体系域和层序界面,从而为层序地层的准确识别划分提供新的思路。     

化石群落与层序地层的耦合关系研究——以塔里木盆地西部中新生代有孔虫群落与层序地层关系研究为例

本文研究的是大陆边缘海以底栖有孔虫为主的化石群落与层序地层的关系。海平面变化是控制化石群落演替和识别划分层序的主要因素。化石群落在一个完整海水进退旋回中呈机会种群落、平衡种群落、终极种群落演替变化,在化石丰度、多样度、均衡度、成壳类型等方面分异显著,与层序地层的三级层序的海进体系域、凝缩期沉积、高位体系域具有密切的耦合关系。化石群落的演替变化是对海洋环境变迁的能动反映。因此,化石群落的研究可以帮助识别和优化层序、沉积体系域和层序界面,从而为层序地层的准确识别划分提供新的思路。     

Upper Carboniferous to Lower Permian transgressive–regressive sequences of central Spitsbergen,Arctic Norway

Investigation of the Upper Carboniferous to Lower Permian sedimentary strata of central Spitsbergen shows that this highly cyclic rock succession is composed of four long-term transgressive–regressive cycles. These long-term cycles are themselves composed of stacked higher order cycles. Transgressive phases are characterized by increasing accommodation space, and include a basal transgressive part of marked retrogradation of facies belts and thickening-upward component cycles. Regressive phases are characterized by decreasing accommodation space, displayed by progradation of facies belts, overall shallowing and increased restriction of the depositional environment, influx of coarse terrigenous sediments and increasing evidence of exposure and/or non-deposition. The oldest transgressive–regressive sequence identified, Sequence 1, is of Serpukhovian to Bashkirian age and represents a syn-rift sequence. Also composed of syn-rift sediments is the transgressive–regressive Moscovian to mid-Gzhelian-aged Sequence 2. The late Gzhelian to late Asselian Sequence 3 is mainly a post-rift sequence. The youngest sequence, Sequence 4, is of Sakmarian to possible Artinskian age, and is also composed of post-rift sediments. The individual transgressive–regressive cycles are defined as second-order cycles, based on lithological signatures, lateral extent of bounding unconformities, and the actual time period the cycles span. Local tectonic activity is believed to control to some extent the development of short-term cycles in the syn-rift succession. However, cyclicity within the long-term cycles is mainly controlled by eustatic sea-level fluctuations, and therefore enables them to be correlated to other Circum-Arctic regions. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.